flowers — Page 196

Butterflies, Spiders and Morning Glories

September 20, 2016 at 9:40 am by Claudia

We’re in a fairly humid stretch here in the Hudson Valley – I thought those days were past, silly me! And we’re due for some very warm temperatures for the rest of the week. Oh, September, you fickle month, you!

A big chunk of time was spent in the waiting room of the car dealership yesterday. Oh, how I wanted to escape! The television was on – turned to the NYC Fox affiliate – as news was breaking about the capture of the man who was behind the bombs in the city and in New Jersey. I was happy to know he’d been caught, of course, but I had to listen to endless filler as the anchors ‘guessed’ and ‘supposed’ to fill time until they actually knew the facts. When an ‘ex-FBI agent’ got on the horn and decided to use his questionable expertise to attack Democrats and Obama when the breaking news had nothing to do with them; and said something like ‘they let this guy in this country,’ when in actuality, he immigrated with his family at the age of seven, I had to get up and move far, far away. Too many people with a political agenda spouting off when they don’t know what they’re talking about.

Another reason I don’t watch that crap at home. Being a captive audience did not make me happy. Fortunately, just after I moved, a woman asked one of the staff to change the channel. To Seinfeld. Sigh of relief.

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A great spangled fritillary on the butterfly bush yesterday afternoon.

And this guy spun a complex web that extended from the porch railing to the gutter.

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The black and yellow garden spider. You can see that he’d caught his prey and was protecting it. I saw a little gnat caught in the web, over on the edge, so I freed it. That didn’t make my spider friend happy, but I figured he had enough food for dinner.

He promptly moved very quickly to the edge of his web, presumably to guard against intruders.

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Don came out to take a look. These guys are fascinating. I usually see them in the garden or down by the culvert. They spin this complicated web, with that seam you can see in the first photo, and then take it all down again rather quickly. I checked this morning. It’s gone.

If you’re squeamish, sorry! But really, you’re looking at a photo. Not the real thing!

Morning Glories to soothe the soul:

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They’re still blooming!

Louise Penny’s beloved husband, Michael, passed away yesterday after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Louise and Michael showed us what true love is throughout this challenge, with a steadfast devotion that was unending as they made this journey together. May he rest in peace.

Happy Tuesday.

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I Found It

September 18, 2016 at 9:39 am by Claudia

Yesterday found me searching for a copy of an old contract, which I ended up not finding. That search took me to my file cabinet in the office, long ignored, and I tossed tons of paper, documents, and old files that are no longer needed – that kind of thing.

But I did find something I’ve been searching for. I probably should wait to post this until our official anniversary, which is October 12th, but what the heck!

A photo of Don and me on the day we met, during our very first conversation:

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There is Don, with an impressive tan (he’d just finished working on a play in Arizona). There’s the shirt he has worn on each consecutive July 4th, and only on July 4th.

We’d spent the day at our friend Kathy’s house at the beach. At this point in the day, it had become much cooler outside, so I threw on my BU sweatshirt. I’m not sure what’s on my jeans – looks like paint. That’s my dear friend Rick next to me. We worked together at BU, were hired at the same time to work in San Diego, and he still heads up the MFA program there. (We both found the loves of our lives right around the same time. Isn’t that lovely?)

There’s the photo date stamp in the lower right hand corner.

I didn’t know this photo existed until about 5 years later, when Jonathan McMurtry, a wonderful actor that we’ve known for years, put it in an envelope and left it in my mailbox at the Globe. Needless to say, we were thrilled that we had some documentation of the day that quite literally changed our lives.

Gosh, I was skinny in those days!

We’d been having a conversation about the fact that we were now in our forties and we couldn’t believe we were that old.

Oh, Don and Claudia! Now you look at this photo and think how young you were!

I’ll share it again on our anniversary. Promise.

Nancy asked for a photo of the zinnias. Here’s one. I’ll take more.

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Today I counted 13 morning glory blooms. It’s a rainy Sunday, so I didn’t take a picture of them, but I do have more to share with you over the coming days.

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Like this one.

We took a trail walk yesterday, where we saw our old friends munching on their dinner.

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They’re shy. When they saw me, they turned their heads away from me. One of them is the mother, the other is the son. Aren’t they beautiful?

Rest in Peace to the great Edward Albee, a playwright who had an enormous influence on a young actress finding her way in the world of theater. I acted in his plays, I loved his words. I heard him speak during my time in Philadelphia and I’ll never forget that day. Bravo.

Happy Sunday.

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A Plethora of Pretty

September 17, 2016 at 9:04 am by Claudia

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I counted 23 morning glories this morning. I mean! My bumper crop is blooming in abundance, which I suppose means that they’ll be finished blooming sooner than I expected. But that’s just fine. I’d rather have them bloom fast and furiously, rather than have the frost catch them, which is what happened last year.

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Such an interesting contrast; all the leaves on the ground and flowers blooming. The gardens and lawn start to look rather tatty at this time of year, but the morning glories and zinnias and a rose here and there are providing lots of beauty. This was taken by me early this morning.

In my pajamas, of course.

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In the process of opening.

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Be still my heart. Three beauties nestled together.

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Sigh.

The birdbath was hopping yesterday. A robin plopped herself right in the middle of the birdbath as about 5 catbirds tried to come in for a landing. At one point the mourning dove was perched on the rim, facing away from a catbird who landed on the other side of the rim. Later on, I saw a catbird vigorously dunking herself – one, two, three times.

I’m glad they’re still here. Don’t leave yet, okay?

This morning, right after I got out of bed, I heard the honking of Canada Geese as they flew over the house, a sure sign that autumn is here.

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Mustn’t forget my Sentimental Balloon Flower. It’s still blooming, as well.

We’ve been trail walking this week; yesterday and the day before we did the 2 mile version of the walk – much easier to do when the humidity is gone.

And there we are. It’s a Saturday in September. I’m starting a little project for my sister (something she asked me to do a while ago) and we already have to clean one of the gutters on the porch. Too soon!

Happy Saturday.

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Butterflies, Spiders and Morning Glories

I Found It

A Plethora of Pretty

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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